Fic: Common Ground
Title: Common Ground
Author: quistis_gamgee
Disclaimer: I own nothing except for the plot.
Rating: PG
Pairing: Josh/Thornton, Drake/Josh
Summary: Thornton wants to be close to Josh, with whom he has nothing in common with.
Author's Notes: For the ‘key’ prompt. Inspired by Josh’s Wikipedia page, where it says that he plays piano. I actually wrote this fic backwards, it was weird. (Also, I just spotted on wiki that Jerry Trainor and I have the same birthday. How awesome is that? Maybe I should cut my Drake-hair into Jerry-hair...)
Thornton was really glad he knew Drake Parker.
Why? Well, because Drake was Josh’s brother. And being close to Drake meant being close to Josh. Figuratively, anyway.
It was a lot easier to talk to Drake. Drake and Thornton shared a lot of interests. They both liked the same kind of music, they both liked chicken wings, cute girls, Thornton had dabbled in guitar once or twice, and they both hated Mrs. Hayfer.
But mostly it was easier because talking to Drake didn’t turn him into a bumbling idiot who couldn’t form a sentence.
Well, he would be a bumbling idiot if he had the courage to say something other than, ‘Hey Josh, how’s it goin’?’
So here he was, sitting at a table with Drake and a Dr. Fizz, kind of paying attention but mostly staring over Drake’s right shoulder at Josh at the candy counter. Thornton absently wished he played checkers, or liked magic, or played video games. How was he supposed to get up the nerve to talk to Josh if he had nothing to talk about? Thornton shook himself out of his inner thoughts, though; when something Drake said caught his attention.
“Wait, what was that?” Thornton meant the last bit, but it might as well be the whole conversation.
“I said I should let Josh play piano for our band more often.”
“Josh plays piano?”
“Yeah,” Drake took a sip of his Mocha Cola, “and really well.”
“He never said anything about that.” Because you can never talk to him, stupid.
“Yeah, well you know Josh. He doesn’t really brag about things.”
Drake’s voice was interrupted by Thornton’s own inner monologue, maybe not so much words as an image of nimble yet strong hands moving in a rhythm across ivory piano keys. He could almost hear the song in his head, and Thornton realized that just may be the sexiest image of Josh he’s ever had. Well. Besides the fantasies of him naked, of course. If Josh could manipulate eighty-eight small pieces of plastic to make beautiful music, imagine what else those hands would be good at...
“Helloooo... earth to Thornton!”
Thornton didn’t have any talents. Hell, he couldn’t really do much of anything besides dress snappy. He wished he could play piano, or at least do something interesting.
“Thornton! Hey!”
“Oh... I’m sorry. I must have been daydreaming.” And for a second you saw Thornton put on a smirk usually befitting Drake, because he was gettin’ ideas.
-------------
Thanks to Drake (who knew everything about Josh and his schedule at The Premiere); Thornton knew Josh didn’t have work the next day. He rang the bell and waited a few seconds, and when the door opened he went to say hello but the words got caught up in his throat.
“Hey! What up, Thornton?” Josh quipped, smiling that smile.
So, Thornton said hello in return. By stammering like an idiot and keeping his mouth agape so bugs could fly in and nest. Not to mention a furious flush was climbing its way up his neck.
“You uh.. just going to stand there or do you want to come in?”
And Josh giggled, so Thornton melted a little more inside.
“Yeah, sure.”
Josh stepped aside and his friend walked in, jamming his hands in his pockets to stop himself from shaking.
“Sorry, but Drake went out a little while ago-”
“No no, actually... I wanted to ask you something.”
“Oh, well of course.”
“Drake told me last night that you’re a pianist, so I was wondering if you’d be interested in teaching me a little. I mean... if you don’t mind.” Thornton was proud of himself that he formed this sentence coherently, but his knees almost gave out when Josh spoke his answer.
“I’d be happy to! Come upstairs to my room, I’ll show you my keyboard.”
His room? Well- look at that. Well.
Thornton almost couldn’t make it up the stairs. It’s not like he hadn’t been up there before, I mean he’d hang out with Drake up there all the time, but this was Josh. Josh. Being in a bedroom with Drake and being in a bedroom with Josh did totally different things to his heartbeat. For one, it was pounding so hard he could feel it in his feet. And he felt like he was going to pass out.
When they were inside, Thornton glanced around for anything out of the ordinary. He didn’t see any keyboard, which is probably why he never asked about it. Josh reached underneath his bed and pulled out the instrument, unfolding its legs and setting it down.
“Here, sit on the edge of the bed with me.” Josh plopped down onto the bed, patting the spot beside him.
Thornton sat down slowly, feeling the subtle heat from the other boy’s body. He swallowed and wiped the sweat off his brow, taking his hands out of his pockets.
“First, I’ll teach you the keys. Now, unlike a standard piano, an electric keyboard only has sixty-one keys on it.”
Josh ran his index finger down the row of keys, making a chord. Thornton smiled.
“Here, we’ll start with this one. This is the ‘c’ key.” Josh tapped the leftmost key. “Now you.”
Thornton tapped the ‘c’ key. Hmm.
They spent the next hour that way, with Josh being a diligent teacher and pointing out all the necessary rules and mechanics to Thornton. Besides the fact that it was Josh, Thornton found it really, really interesting - especially when Josh would get extra excited and lean into him. So he was an infatuation, but Josh Nichols was really truly amazing, and he never stopped smiling.
After Thornton had learned the key letters, how to place his hands and how to play a few notes, he got a new idea.
“Josh, I want to play a song.”
“But you’ve just started learning! I have to teach you scales and chords and how to hold your wrists and lots of other things!”
“Okay... you play, and I’ll pretend it’s really me.”
Thornton had no idea what he was trying to do, but now that he actually had Josh alone his mouth was pretty much speaking for itself. But the other boy smirked and placed his fingers expertly over the keyboard, and the rest of Thornton melted when he did that tongue thing while thinking of what song he was going to play.
Josh instructed the boy to lay his hands over his own, and the electricity that passed through Thornton’s fingertips made him let out a breath. Slowly the hands under him started to move, and Thornton didn’t really know what song it was, part of him didn’t really care, it was beautiful because of who it was coming from. There was also that other small part of him that wasn’t even hearing the song, but was concentrating on the fact that those were Josh’s hands under his and this might never happen again.
After a minute of holding his breath, Josh stopped and Thornton sucked in a lungful of air.
“That... was a really beautiful song, Josh.”
“Really? You think so?”
The other boy could have sworn he saw Josh blush for a second, and he smiled that gorgeous smile, and Josh looked down at their hands still pressed together.
“Yeah. I do.”
Thornton intertwined their fingers. He wasn’t sure why or how his body managed to defy him, but when he looked down he was most definitely holding Josh’s hands. He heard Josh call his name, but he didn’t want to let go. After a few seconds, Thornton realized a horrendous sound was being produced from their fists lying on the keyboard. Josh took the liberty of pulling their hands onto his lap.
“Josh, I-“
“Thornton, I-“
“You first.” Josh insisted, shifting on the bed slightly.
His voice was failing him again, and all Thornton could do was look pleadingly at Josh hoping he would understand without words. Josh just furrowed his eyebrows, and Thornton watched the other boy bite his bottom lip. Then, his body was out of his control.
Thornton’s face inched closer to Josh’s.
And closer.
Their lips brushed and he leaned even closer, his grip on Josh’s hands tightening. Thornton’s stomach did flip-flips and he sucked in air sharply through his nose. This was the best moment of his life. Except - Josh wasn’t kissing back.
When he finally pulled away, Josh went back to biting his lip.
“Josh?”
Josh let go of Thornton’s hands and his eyes started to glaze over, internally fighting with himself over what to say.
“I can’t, Thornton. I’m sorry. I.. have someone else.”
The smaller boy nodded, and Josh wanted to continue with their lesson, but Thornton declined. It was time for him to go home. When they got to the door, Josh grabbed his arm and went to say something, but Thornton kept telling him it was okay and not to worry about it, even though he was dying on the inside.
---------------
Okay, so Thornton had to admit that he wasn’t exactly forced to invite Josh to his sixteenth birthday party. He also wasn’t forced to visit The Premiere almost as often as Drake did.
He also wasn’t forced to develop a crush on Josh Nichols.
What seemed odd to him was that whenever he caught Drake at The Premiere, half of the time he didn’t have a date. When Thornton would catch up with him, Drake would talk about ‘Josh this’ and ‘Josh that’.
And then he realized.
He was just pretending. Josh was a real pianist.
And when his fingers pressed against those keys as a perfect song rang into the air, it was only for Drake.
(If it's okay, I just want to say Rest In Peace to someone. Even though I hadn't even seen her in a few years she was a close High School friend, and she was fatally shot in the eye over the weekend in a drive-by random shooting. <3 Thank you.)
Author: quistis_gamgee
Disclaimer: I own nothing except for the plot.
Rating: PG
Pairing: Josh/Thornton, Drake/Josh
Summary: Thornton wants to be close to Josh, with whom he has nothing in common with.
Author's Notes: For the ‘key’ prompt. Inspired by Josh’s Wikipedia page, where it says that he plays piano. I actually wrote this fic backwards, it was weird. (Also, I just spotted on wiki that Jerry Trainor and I have the same birthday. How awesome is that? Maybe I should cut my Drake-hair into Jerry-hair...)
Thornton was really glad he knew Drake Parker.
Why? Well, because Drake was Josh’s brother. And being close to Drake meant being close to Josh. Figuratively, anyway.
It was a lot easier to talk to Drake. Drake and Thornton shared a lot of interests. They both liked the same kind of music, they both liked chicken wings, cute girls, Thornton had dabbled in guitar once or twice, and they both hated Mrs. Hayfer.
But mostly it was easier because talking to Drake didn’t turn him into a bumbling idiot who couldn’t form a sentence.
Well, he would be a bumbling idiot if he had the courage to say something other than, ‘Hey Josh, how’s it goin’?’
So here he was, sitting at a table with Drake and a Dr. Fizz, kind of paying attention but mostly staring over Drake’s right shoulder at Josh at the candy counter. Thornton absently wished he played checkers, or liked magic, or played video games. How was he supposed to get up the nerve to talk to Josh if he had nothing to talk about? Thornton shook himself out of his inner thoughts, though; when something Drake said caught his attention.
“Wait, what was that?” Thornton meant the last bit, but it might as well be the whole conversation.
“I said I should let Josh play piano for our band more often.”
“Josh plays piano?”
“Yeah,” Drake took a sip of his Mocha Cola, “and really well.”
“He never said anything about that.” Because you can never talk to him, stupid.
“Yeah, well you know Josh. He doesn’t really brag about things.”
Drake’s voice was interrupted by Thornton’s own inner monologue, maybe not so much words as an image of nimble yet strong hands moving in a rhythm across ivory piano keys. He could almost hear the song in his head, and Thornton realized that just may be the sexiest image of Josh he’s ever had. Well. Besides the fantasies of him naked, of course. If Josh could manipulate eighty-eight small pieces of plastic to make beautiful music, imagine what else those hands would be good at...
“Helloooo... earth to Thornton!”
Thornton didn’t have any talents. Hell, he couldn’t really do much of anything besides dress snappy. He wished he could play piano, or at least do something interesting.
“Thornton! Hey!”
“Oh... I’m sorry. I must have been daydreaming.” And for a second you saw Thornton put on a smirk usually befitting Drake, because he was gettin’ ideas.
-------------
Thanks to Drake (who knew everything about Josh and his schedule at The Premiere); Thornton knew Josh didn’t have work the next day. He rang the bell and waited a few seconds, and when the door opened he went to say hello but the words got caught up in his throat.
“Hey! What up, Thornton?” Josh quipped, smiling that smile.
So, Thornton said hello in return. By stammering like an idiot and keeping his mouth agape so bugs could fly in and nest. Not to mention a furious flush was climbing its way up his neck.
“You uh.. just going to stand there or do you want to come in?”
And Josh giggled, so Thornton melted a little more inside.
“Yeah, sure.”
Josh stepped aside and his friend walked in, jamming his hands in his pockets to stop himself from shaking.
“Sorry, but Drake went out a little while ago-”
“No no, actually... I wanted to ask you something.”
“Oh, well of course.”
“Drake told me last night that you’re a pianist, so I was wondering if you’d be interested in teaching me a little. I mean... if you don’t mind.” Thornton was proud of himself that he formed this sentence coherently, but his knees almost gave out when Josh spoke his answer.
“I’d be happy to! Come upstairs to my room, I’ll show you my keyboard.”
His room? Well- look at that. Well.
Thornton almost couldn’t make it up the stairs. It’s not like he hadn’t been up there before, I mean he’d hang out with Drake up there all the time, but this was Josh. Josh. Being in a bedroom with Drake and being in a bedroom with Josh did totally different things to his heartbeat. For one, it was pounding so hard he could feel it in his feet. And he felt like he was going to pass out.
When they were inside, Thornton glanced around for anything out of the ordinary. He didn’t see any keyboard, which is probably why he never asked about it. Josh reached underneath his bed and pulled out the instrument, unfolding its legs and setting it down.
“Here, sit on the edge of the bed with me.” Josh plopped down onto the bed, patting the spot beside him.
Thornton sat down slowly, feeling the subtle heat from the other boy’s body. He swallowed and wiped the sweat off his brow, taking his hands out of his pockets.
“First, I’ll teach you the keys. Now, unlike a standard piano, an electric keyboard only has sixty-one keys on it.”
Josh ran his index finger down the row of keys, making a chord. Thornton smiled.
“Here, we’ll start with this one. This is the ‘c’ key.” Josh tapped the leftmost key. “Now you.”
Thornton tapped the ‘c’ key. Hmm.
They spent the next hour that way, with Josh being a diligent teacher and pointing out all the necessary rules and mechanics to Thornton. Besides the fact that it was Josh, Thornton found it really, really interesting - especially when Josh would get extra excited and lean into him. So he was an infatuation, but Josh Nichols was really truly amazing, and he never stopped smiling.
After Thornton had learned the key letters, how to place his hands and how to play a few notes, he got a new idea.
“Josh, I want to play a song.”
“But you’ve just started learning! I have to teach you scales and chords and how to hold your wrists and lots of other things!”
“Okay... you play, and I’ll pretend it’s really me.”
Thornton had no idea what he was trying to do, but now that he actually had Josh alone his mouth was pretty much speaking for itself. But the other boy smirked and placed his fingers expertly over the keyboard, and the rest of Thornton melted when he did that tongue thing while thinking of what song he was going to play.
Josh instructed the boy to lay his hands over his own, and the electricity that passed through Thornton’s fingertips made him let out a breath. Slowly the hands under him started to move, and Thornton didn’t really know what song it was, part of him didn’t really care, it was beautiful because of who it was coming from. There was also that other small part of him that wasn’t even hearing the song, but was concentrating on the fact that those were Josh’s hands under his and this might never happen again.
After a minute of holding his breath, Josh stopped and Thornton sucked in a lungful of air.
“That... was a really beautiful song, Josh.”
“Really? You think so?”
The other boy could have sworn he saw Josh blush for a second, and he smiled that gorgeous smile, and Josh looked down at their hands still pressed together.
“Yeah. I do.”
Thornton intertwined their fingers. He wasn’t sure why or how his body managed to defy him, but when he looked down he was most definitely holding Josh’s hands. He heard Josh call his name, but he didn’t want to let go. After a few seconds, Thornton realized a horrendous sound was being produced from their fists lying on the keyboard. Josh took the liberty of pulling their hands onto his lap.
“Josh, I-“
“Thornton, I-“
“You first.” Josh insisted, shifting on the bed slightly.
His voice was failing him again, and all Thornton could do was look pleadingly at Josh hoping he would understand without words. Josh just furrowed his eyebrows, and Thornton watched the other boy bite his bottom lip. Then, his body was out of his control.
Thornton’s face inched closer to Josh’s.
And closer.
Their lips brushed and he leaned even closer, his grip on Josh’s hands tightening. Thornton’s stomach did flip-flips and he sucked in air sharply through his nose. This was the best moment of his life. Except - Josh wasn’t kissing back.
When he finally pulled away, Josh went back to biting his lip.
“Josh?”
Josh let go of Thornton’s hands and his eyes started to glaze over, internally fighting with himself over what to say.
“I can’t, Thornton. I’m sorry. I.. have someone else.”
The smaller boy nodded, and Josh wanted to continue with their lesson, but Thornton declined. It was time for him to go home. When they got to the door, Josh grabbed his arm and went to say something, but Thornton kept telling him it was okay and not to worry about it, even though he was dying on the inside.
---------------
Okay, so Thornton had to admit that he wasn’t exactly forced to invite Josh to his sixteenth birthday party. He also wasn’t forced to visit The Premiere almost as often as Drake did.
He also wasn’t forced to develop a crush on Josh Nichols.
What seemed odd to him was that whenever he caught Drake at The Premiere, half of the time he didn’t have a date. When Thornton would catch up with him, Drake would talk about ‘Josh this’ and ‘Josh that’.
And then he realized.
He was just pretending. Josh was a real pianist.
And when his fingers pressed against those keys as a perfect song rang into the air, it was only for Drake.
(If it's okay, I just want to say Rest In Peace to someone. Even though I hadn't even seen her in a few years she was a close High School friend, and she was fatally shot in the eye over the weekend in a drive-by random shooting. <3 Thank you.)